FRITH Together Again
by TamarawTinay
Summary: This story is about Dr. Lilith Sternin and Dr. Frasier Crane and their son Frederick... What shall happen after Freddy's recital?


FRITH Together Again

~ Chapter 1 ~

"Mom, are you sure Dad knows about my recital on Friday?" Frederick, now 14 years old, very handsome – a split of his mother, Dr. Lilith Sternin and father, Dr. Frasier Crane, asked his mother.

"For the hundredth time, Freddy, yes," replied Dr. Lilith Sternin with a smile. "I called your father's home, Nile's home, and your father's office reminding him for the hundred and second time that there will be a recital on your school."

"But does he know that I will be performing?" Frederick asked.

"Yes," Lilith replied.

That day was Wednesday, two days away until Frederick's performs on stage for the first time. Lilith and Frasier were very excited and proud of their son.

You might be wondering why Frederick's parents have different last names and seem to live in two different places (in fact, they do, Lilith and Frederick live in Boston as Frasier lives in Seattle). It is because they are divorced. And today, Lilith is preparing to fetch his ex- husband from the airport in a few hours.

The phone rang and Lilith took it.

"Hello," she said.

"Lilith?" the voice on the other end said. "It's me, Frasier."

"Oh, hello Frasier," she said. Frederick, hearing his father's name, smiled with sparkling eyes. "Why are you calling?"

"I phoned to say that I am about to board the connecting plane to Boston," Frasier said. "And I'd like to speak with Freddy."

"Of course!" she turned to her eager son and handed him the phone. "He wants to talk to you."

The father and son talked for a few minutes before they said goodbye.

Lilith smiled at Frederick and said nothing but, "See?"

Both Frasier and Lilith had been asking Frederick about the recital. But he won't say anything except, "Wait and you will see."

As it turned out, he has a very right to keep it as a secret – the recital, which is a project in his Character Education subject, is about divorce. They will perform a musical with Frederick as the main character – the son of the divorced couple.

The recital touched everybody's hearts. Even the cold and stoic Lilith Sternin wiped a few tears from her eyes. But she showed no sign of tears when the recital was over and Frederick came to see them.

"It was marvelous, Freddy!" she exclaimed hugging him.

"Very well, son!" added Frasier. "So, do you want to dine out?"

"Of course he doesn't," Lilith interjected, even with Frederick in the midst of saying "Yes."

"He wants to eat at home –"

"But Lilith, he was about to say –" cut in Frasier but was interrupted by her again.

"Mommy is going to cook something special for Freddy," she said. "How does spaghetti sounds like?"

"I guess," Frederick replied looking at his feet.

"Great!" she cheered. "And home we go!"

Frasier looked at his son and said nothing. "Uh, Lilith?" he cautiously asked.

"Yes?"

"Can I be the one to drive back?"

She whirled around and stared at him. She handed him the car keys and said, "Alright."

On their way down the stair of the school, Lilith accidentally slipped and was about to fall. Fortunately, Frasier caught her. But then, as their eyes locked at each other, he lost his balance and fell. They locked their arms embracing each other as they roll down the stairs and had their eyes only for each other.

There was a big commotion when they reached the ground. That is when they realized how they were positioned. Lilith's eyes widened and immediately broke away from him.

He slowly sat on the ground as she fixed her hair, which was let down by the force of their fall. She looked at him and saw that his shoulder was bleeding.

She kneeled in front of him and rummaged inside her bag for cotton and a bottle of povidone- iodine. She opened his shirt and poured some of the red liquid onto the cotton. Slowly and carefully, she dabbed the cotton on his wounded shoulder.

He hissed in pain. "You didn't change Lilith. You never leave the house without first aid."

"Well, you never know when they will be needed," she replied. She took his arm and dabbed the cotton on his yet another wound.

Because she was in a hurry while fixing her hair, some strands came to loose and fall on her face as she rummages inside her bag for a gauze and surgical tape. She tear the gauze using a cutter and folded it.

Frasier absently put her hair behind her ear. Lilith felt it and narrowed her eyes. Then she placed the gauze in his wound and sealed it with strips of surgical tape forcefully. Then she poured a generous amount of alcohol on it. He winced visibly in pain followed by a hiss.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Well," she began as she continues tending his wounds. "You shouldn't have tried to catch me –" she applied pressure on his wound. "If you didn't, you would not have lost your balance and hurt yourself." She finished by spraying an antibacterial solution on the wounds, making it sting with pain.

"Thank you, Lilith," he said looking at his tended yet stinging wounds. "And you're welcome."

She narrowed her eyes on him as she stood up, fixing her hair.

"Are you alright, Dad?" Frederick asked as he helped his father to stand.

"Yes, your mother's expertise is first aid is very… er – comforting," he replied. "Now shall we return home?"

On their drive home, Frasier was on the driver's seat, Lilith on the seat next to him and Frederick on the backseat.

Our house played on the radio and Lilith and Frasier looked at each other with smile on their faces. Frederick did not miss it. He gleefully smiled.

Few moments passed and they sang. Frederick smiled even more.

"Freddy, would you mind helping your father with the ingredients?" Lilith asked when they returned home. She put down her bag and started to remove her coat. Frasier rushed to her and took the coat by the shoulder and she shrugged it off.

"Thank you, Frasier," she affectionately said.

Frederick's eyes widened at the tone of her voice. He happily replied to his mother, "Of course!" Then he hurriedly ran off to leave his parents alone.

Lilith took her and Frasier's coat and hanged it on the hall closet. When she turned around, she somehow stumbled and started to fall bumping him hard and they both fell on the floor with the she on top of him. They stared at each other for a long time. Her usually cold eyes melted and felt warm – as if it was whenever they were together years ago, when they were still happily married.

He touched her face adoringly. She slowly smiled and leaned towards him. Losing himself with her smile and warm eyes, Frasier pulled himself up and they kissed – as if like yesterday.

Then somehow, the two probably realized their current relationship and broke away from each other feeling guilty. Lilith slid away from atop him and wiped her lips. Frasier sat up and rubbed his hands.

"I'm sorry, Lilith," he said. "I shouldn't have …"

"No," insisted her. Her eyes now cold again. "It's my fault. Sorry." Then she stood up to cook for dinner, leaving him embarrassed.

Frederick, who turned out to be behind the kitchen wall grunted in disbelief, before hurriedly running to the backyard.

Lilith, Frasier, and Frederick cooked dinner quietly. However, during the dinner, Frasier and Lilith started to talk again, as if nothing happened.

Frederick stared at his parents unbelievingly – first, they kissed, then gotten cold, and now, they are talking normally! Not to mention that they were very close during the recital and on their way home.

After dinner, the three cleaned up the table and washed the dishes together, like what most families do. Right after that, Frederick requested his parents to put him to sleep.

Normally, Lilith, and so would Frasier, would wonder why he asked to be sent to bed. Nowadays, he would not even allow Lilith see his room. But then his parents are acting abnormal, neither asked why. In fact, they both were happy about the arrangement.

"Dad, how did you and Mom meet?" Frederick asked.

"Well, we were in this seminar and I found your mother deeply… well, fascinating –" began Frasier.

"Really," interrupted Lilith.

Frasier smiled and continued, "Well, I find her… interesting. Ando so I asked her out. We went to Cheers …and –"

"Shh!" Lilith interrupted. "He's already asleep."

Frasier looked at his son. He bent forward to kiss his forehead.

"Oh, Frasier! You are bleeding again! Come over to my room, I have the first aid kit there."

And so, they went to the room. It was very neat, of course, and the room was in a light shade of yellow with hints of rose. On the night table sat two pictures, the first one was the picture of Lilith, Frasier, and Frederick, taken after his first birthday; the second was another picture of them, when Frederick was 13 years old.

Frasier sat on the bed and took a better look on the pictured, just as Lilith was returning with the kit in hand. She saw him looking at the pictures and blushed a little.

"We were happy during this picture," he said. She was not sure if he was asking or saying, so she said nothing and removed the dressing of the wound on his shoulder then started to clean it.

"This was after Freddy's birthday. Ah! I remember when Freddy splattered the cake you baked."

"Yes, and it took you how many hours was that? To clean him?" she replied with a smile. She carefully put an ointment on his wound.

He winced in pain. "It was only an hour! Oh, I remember the day Freddy was born."

"You weren't there."

"Yes, I know. How I dread that day. I shouldn't have helped that woman." He looked down on the picture. "Do you remember when Freddy started pre-school? When we enrolled him?"

"Yes. And the day he was christened. Sam Malone really never goes to a place without knowing and seeing a woman there. Even the church helper!"

"I suddenly remembered when you told me that you were pregnant."

"We have Carla to thank! Her crazy tactics!"

"And there's of course, our wedding –"

Lilith ignored his last comment. "Having a family really is fun. So many good memories."

"I miss my family," Frasier said looking at the pictures again.

"You have Niles and everyone back in Seattle."

"No, I mean, my own family. A wife and a child."

"You'll have –" she stopped, analyzing his statement. "What do you mean by 'child'? Don't you want a bigger family?"

"I do not think my wife will agree."

"As if you have a wife, Frasier,"

"I used to."

"Well then –" she stopped again, realizing what he meant. Before she could say anything, Frasier slipped his hand over hers. She stared at it for a moment before looking back at him with questioning look.

He stood up and kissed her on the cheek before bidding her good night. He left the room and went to the guestroom.


End file.
